1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for retaining an article and particularly to a book for retaining photographs. More particularly, the invention relates to a photo guest book wherein photographs can be placed in the book as they are taken and a written description of the photograph or of the event can be added contemporaneously.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photo albums have been around for a long time. The advent of photographic film changed the way people live and the way they remember personal, social and historic events. For well over a century, people have been taking photos of everyday life, including birthdays, social events, graduations, weddings and holidays, and placing them in some sort of book for safekeeping and future viewing. The photo books have evolved into very elegant hand crafted books not only used for the everyday photos but also for very specific events.
Some of the problems encountered with today's photo albums include remembering details about the occasions, people and places that are the subject of the photos. For example, there are many instances when numerous photos are taken at a party and after developing the photos, the owner of the photographs may not remember the identity of the people or places or remember the significance of an activity captured in the photo. An age-old solution to the problem included notation on the back of a developed photo, but these are not made contemporaneously with the event and are therefore often inaccurate. Another problem associated with the prior art photo books is that once the book is filled with photos, the overall size of the book is increased in thickness due to a stacking effect of the relatively thick photograph paper. In addition, the increased size tends to breakdown the book over time.
Therefore, there exists a need for a method and apparatus that can retain a photo in a photo book while permitting a written note to be contemporaneously added to the book near the photo. There is a further need for a method and apparatus for retaining a photo in a book so that the overall thickness of the photo book does not increase as the photo book is filled with photos.